


When I Said Take Me to the Moon I Never Meant Take Me Alone

by AuddaxEnderDragon



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Subnautica (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Character Death, Subnautica AU, Tommy Misses Tubbo, Tubbo gets a pet stalker, i am just now realizing how weird that last tag sounds, i have thalassophobia so this might get scary at parts, i swear that its the animal from subnautica, my fear of the ocean plus me writing about an oceanic planet is not a good combo, sorry - Freeform, tubbo out here collecting older brother figures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuddaxEnderDragon/pseuds/AuddaxEnderDragon
Summary: Stranded on an alien planet, Tommy has to learn to survive. Yet, will he escape the alien planet or will he succumb to the mysterious Khaara Virus?Title is from Rät by Penelope Scott
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Eret & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson
Comments: 42
Kudos: 351





	1. Chapter 1

**_Alert: hull breach. Attempting emergency landing in t-100._ **

The blaring of alarms and flashing lights woke Tommy up from his sleep. Though he was groggy, he soon woke himself up. He grabbed his pack and ran out of his room. He saw Tubbo in the hall and ran to him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He yelled over the alarms. “What-”

He was cut off by the lurching of the ship. Tommy grabbed onto the railing on the wall and he saw Tubbo do the same.

“I think an asteroid hit us!” Tubbo shouted.

“What’s protocol?” Tommy shouted. When he signed up for his internship, he wasn’t expecting this. It was just supposed to be a construction project to make a phase gate, not a near-death experience.

“We have to go to the life pods!” Tubbo responded. Tommy grabbed his short friend’s arm to steady himself, and together, the two of them headed to the base of the ship. 

**_Alert: hull breach. Attempting emergency landing in t-75._ **

The flashing red lights were giving Tommy a headache. He brought his left hand to his temple, and Tubbo stopped.

“Tommy, what’s wrong?” He shouted gently.

“Hurts,” was all Tommy managed to croak out. 

“I can’t help you Tommy. We have to get to the life pods!” Tubbo said, pulling Tommy behind him. His footsteps were in rhythm with the blaring alarm. The two of them quickly dashed down the stairs.

**_Alert: hull breach. Attempting emergency landing in t-50._ **

Eventually, they came to the bottom deck, where everyone was hurrying about. In the fray, Tommy was split from Tubbo. He closed his eyes, and curled in on himself, his breaths coming out quickly.  _ Inoutinoutinoutinout. _

**_Alert: hull breach. Attempting emergency landing in t-25._ **

Suddenly, he felt large hands on his shoulder. He turned to see his pink-haired mentor. Techno started pulling him toward a life pod. Tommy was just barely able to read the text on the side,  _ Alterra Corporation: Lifepod 5 _ . Tommy looked back at Techno as he was forcibly shoved down the hatch. Techno dropped in after him and turned the latch. Then, Tommy realized he was missing something.

“Tubbo! We have to go back for Tubbo!” He screamed, as his ears felt like they were filled with cotton.

“We can’t, we don’t have time!” Techno shouted back.

“Fuck you,” Tommy said as he attempted to exit the hatch, yet Techno, was stronger, and able to hold him back.

**_Alert: hull breach. Emergency landing failure. Deploying lifepods._ **

Tommy collapsed in on himself. He couldn’t save Tubbo. Tubbo was going to die. Tommy felt Techno wrap his arms around him. Tommy cried harder. The addition of physical comfort from someone who had only shook his hand prior to this to his sorrow made him understand how hopeless his situation was. Tommy envied Tubbo. At least the latter’s death was quick. Tommy’s would not be. 4546B was not friendly to those without gills.

  
  


**Three Months Earlier**

“Tommy! Tommy! I got the internship!” Tubbo said over his communicator. The two boys were on video call together. Tommy was sitting in his room, working on a small robot.

“Pog!” Tommy said. He got his acceptance notice a week ago. “Now we can go to space together!” 

“I know! It’s too bad that we are gonna be working in different sectors.” Tubbo replied. “I’ll be working on the AI’s code and you’ll be working on building the parts for the phase-gate.”

“Yeah, that really sucks, Big T.”

“Are you paying attention to me?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You’re not paying attention to me.”

Tommy looked up from his robot. “Yes I am, I’m just building this guy.”

He held up the small robot. It was a little orb, with a small camera eye.

“He will get so many women.”

“So, so many women.”

The two boys laughed at his joke. They were silent after that. Yet, it was a comfortable silence. Tommy continued working on his robot, and Tubbo continued making his breakfast. Eventually, Tommy was able to get the robot to move, yet he still couldn’t get the camera to work. He didn’t mind, he still had 2 weeks before he would board the Aurora.

“Hey, Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think space is like?”

“Cold, probably. You?”

“Empty, but filled with stuff.”

“That makes no sense, Tubbo.”

Tubbo just laughed, like he knew something Tommy didn’t. “I bet it will look really pretty too, like the night sky all the time.”

“I wonder what planets we’ll see.”

“I wonder what cool aliens we’ll see.”

“Maybe like a slug creature or something.”

“Bee people!” Tubbo shouts, startling Tommy.

“Leave it to you to bring up bee people.”

“I love bees.”

“I know you do,” Tommy says, fixing the wire that got pulled when Tubbo shouted. “It’s kinda weird.”

“No it’s not!” Tubbo shouted, and Tommy knew that if his friend was with him, he would have punched his arm. Yet, Tubbo wasn’t there. He was on a different colony on Terra, taking a class on advanced AI. Tommy missed his friend. He shook the negative thought out of his head. 2 weeks. 2 weeks until he’d be able to see Tubbo again.

“Hey, Tommy, have you seen the Aurora yet?”

“Only in photos. You?”

“No,” Tubbo replied. “I’ve heard it’s pretty big.”

“Well, duh, it’s a spaceship.”

“No, like it’s really big, it’s the same model as one of the militant ships.”

“Huh, that’s weird.”

“I know right? I don’t know why we need a militant ship to make a phase-gate.”

“Maybe there’s hostile aliens?” Tommy suggested.

“Possibly,” Tubbo replied, staring off into space.

Tommy just shook his head. Tubbo was really weird. The kid was smart, but also really weird. Not a bad weird though, a good weird, like his robots. 

Speaking of his robots, the orb that Tommy was working on booted up at the sense of it’s creator’s touch. The little green lights formed a sort of mouth underneath the camera eye. Tommy couldn’t deal with robots without a face.

“What’s its name?” Tubbo asked.

“Doesn’t have one,” Tommy replied, holding a screwdriver in his mouth.

“I’m gonna call it,” He paused to think. “Spins.”

“Spins,” Tommy said, testing out the name. “I like it.”

Tubbo laughed. Tommy did too. It was a cute name, and it fit the little robot perfectly.

  
  


Spins rolled on the floor of  _ Alterra Corporation: Lifepod 5 _ . Tommy just watched as the clean white robot navigated the small pod. The AI that Tubbo coded allowed a steady stream of data to transfer to Tommy’s PDA. The video feed was grainy, but it still transferred. Techno also watched the small robot. They could feel the slight bobbing of the lifepod on the waves, yet they refused to leave. They did not know the levels of radiation or oxygen on 4546B. Lucky for them, the AI was able to detect that, and it would only take a little while longer.

“So, Tommy,” Techno began. “Welcome to your first trip on the Aurora.”

Tommy laughed dryly. This was a shitty situation, yet, he was glad to have his mentor’s presence. 

“ _ Radiation levels: 4,600 millirems. Oxygen levels:97.6% _ .” The female voice stated. The data points displayed on the large screen on one wall of the lifepod.

“I guess we can leave the pod,” Tommy said.

“Yeah,” Techno said. “Let me go first.”

Tommy nodded as he watched his mentor twist the hatch. He saw a bright blue sky, then was blocked by Techno. Techno just stood on the top of the lifepod, and Tommy was getting impatient. He climbed out of the hatch and was stunned by what he saw. An endless ocean of blue. In the distance he could see the metal corpse of the Aurora, smoking.

Tommy looked to the cloudless sky. The sun was almost right above them, and two moons hung low over the horizon. 

“Where exactly are we, Techno?” Tommy asked.

“Either 6734C, 8354E, or 4546B.”

“Which one would you most like to be on?”

“8354E.”

“Why?”

“Lot’s of potatoes.”

Tommy laughed. He didn’t know why his mentor liked the spuds so much, but he could always catch him eating them.

  
  


**Two and a Half Months Earlier**

Tommy walked onto the Aurora. It was a beautiful ship, with sleek white walls and orange and blue accents. With Tommy, walked Captain Jen. Tommy knew she was one of the 6 co-pilots, and head of the communications department. She was giving the new interns a brief tour. Tommy was in group C, the last to reach the Aurora. By this point, Tubbo had been on the Aurora for about a week. 

“This is the cargo hold,” She stated. She was of average height, but seemed taller. She walked proudly. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She wore the customary  _ Alterra Corporation _ uniform, a white jumpsuit with blue and orange accents, like the ship. Tommy, along with the other interns, also wore one. 

They all walked into the cargo hold, to see large crates stacked upon each other. Many of them were white, with  _ Alterra Corporation _ printed on the side in neat black lettering. Tommy ran his hand over the smooth plastic. 

“Within the cargo hold, we have weapons, transportation devices, and food, along with the materials for the phase-gate.” Tommy noticed that the phase-gate almost felt like an after though. His mind went back to when Tubbo told him that it was one of the military models. He spoke out.

“Um, ma’am?” He said, then waited for her to acknowledge him. “Isn’t this one of the military models?”

“Yes, actually,” She said, smiling. “Not many people notice that, a kid in group A did, though.”

_ Tubbo _ . Tommy thought, ignoring the fact that she never stated why it was a military model. 

“Anyway,” she said. “Many of you will have jobs in the cargo hold for your first week or so. You will do everything from inventory to transporting materials around the ship. It’s a good thing we tested you for your physical prowess, because some of these boxes are heavy.”

She smacked one of the boxes when she said this. Tommy was glad that he would be able to skip the cargo jobs, having gotten his internship on a scholarship and recommendations from Professor Smith, his robotics instructor. The rest of the teens weren’t so lucky, having gotten in on a lottery. 

She continued to walk, and the group of 5 interns followed her. When she came to the entrance to the mess hall, she turned to them.

“When we enter these doors, you will be given orientation. Find a seat quickly so you don’t have to stand.”

With that statement, she pushed the doors open, and Tommy was greeted with a cafeteria filled with people all wearing the  _ Alterra Corporation _ jumpsuit. The oldest was probably 45 and the youngest was probably 15. Tommy continued to scan the people until he found Tubbo. He jogged to his friend, and immediately hugged him.

“Tubbo!” He shouted.

“Tommy!” Tubbo replied. “It’s been so long since I last saw you. How have you been?”

Tommy broke the hug. “Pretty good. I finished building Spins. He’s in my pack right now.” 

Tommy brought his pack off his shoulder and pulled out Spins. The robot was a little bigger than his palm. It was not turned on, so Tommy replaced it in his pack once Tubbo had observed it.

“I love him so much,” Tubbo said. Tommy laughed. “I coded his interface already.”

“Nice!” Tommy said. He remembered asking Tubbo to code Spins because he was shit at coding,

“You owe me,” Tubbo said, holding out his hand. 

“I’ll give it to you when Spins works.”

Tubbo just glared at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

“Everyone, take your seats, orientation will begin momentarily.” 

Tommy and Tubbo quickly sat down on the bench. On Tommy’s left was a man with white-blond hair. He looked to be in his mid thirties. 

“Thank you,” Captain Jen said. She was at the front of the room, standing at a podium. “Welcome to the Aurora. The Aurora is a ship owned by the  _ Alterra Corporation _ .  _ Alterra _ has hired all of us to head to the Ariadne Arm to build a new phase gate. This job should be easy, if we all follow our instructions.”

“Hey, Tommy,” Tubbo whispered. “Why are there so many guards?”

Tommy looked back to see guards lining the back wall. They were imposing, and Tommy quickly looked back to Tubbo. He just shook his head. Tubbo frowned and looked back to Captain Jen. Tommy did too.

“We will not stop on any planets beside 3459F, where we will get fuel and rest before heading back to Terra. This trip should be about 2 years. Now, to tell us more about your jobs on the ship, welcome Sergeant Sebastian Jones.”

All of the adults clapped, and Tommy clapped along with them. Tubbo did too. Tommy watched as a tall, muscular man walked onto the stage. Prior to orientation he tore the sleeves off of his jumpsuit, exposing his arms. Scars littered the tan flesh. 

“Hello, ladies, men, gentlethem, I am Sergeant Sebastian Jones, but you can call me Sarge. I have spent 13 years guarding ships, and this one won’t be any different. I have never lost a passenger, and I never will. You don’t need to fear anything, yet if you are nervous, you can always talk to me.”

Tommy liked the Sarge. He seemed nice. 

“Thank you, Sarge,” Captain Jen said, walking back to the podium. “Now, I will go over some of the rules. Rule 1, you may only enter the doors that your keycard can open. Rule 2, do not leave the ship unless you have the required security clearance.”

Tommy let her voice fade into the background as he zoned out. The  _ Alterra Corporation _ was suspicious. Firstly, a military grade ship being used to build a phase-gate. Secondly, the lack of reasoning why. Thirdly, the abundance of military support. Fourthly, all of the rules. Something was weird, a bad weird, and Tommy was going to find out why.

  
  


Tommy sat on the top of the lifepod. He watched the sun set over the aquatic planet, the sky alight with reds, oranges, and blues. It was a beautiful sunset. Tommy wished that the rest of his situation was just as beautiful. Once the sun had crossed the horizon, Tommy re-entered the pod. 

Techno was standing in front of the fabricator. Tommy could see a wetsuit next to him.

“Are we going into the water?”

“I’m going into the water, you are staying here.”

“Bullshit, I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Techno said sternly, turning to him. “I’m going alone, then, when I know that its safe, you can go. Until then, I go alone.”

“Oh really?” Tommy said, quickly snatching up the wetsuit. He held it above his head. Yet, unlike Tubbo(the person Tommy would often use this on), Techno was his height and easily got the wetsuit back. Tommy cursed under his breath.

“Like I said, you’re not going with me,” Techno said. He grabbed the knife off of the fabricator and turned. Tommy left the lifepod, wanting to give the pink-haired man some privacy. He stood on the top of the pod and watched the stars. It continued to remind him of his most-likely-dead(Tommy was unwilling to admit to himself that Tubbo was dead.) friend. 

  
  


**Two Months Earlier**

Tommy sat in the mess hall, eating his breakfast. It was a tube of dried food. Tommy didn’t know exactly what it was, but he liked the taste. It was a sort of smokey flavor, like beef jerky(which was also on the ship). It was about 4 in the morning, Tommy had woken up early to work on Spin’s touch sensors. The little robot was currently rolling on the table and Tommy had to stop it from rolling off. Once he finished his breakfast, he picked up the little robot to head to the intern workshop. It wasn’t the best, many of the parts had been used and broken, but Tommy’s keycard didn’t allow him into the robotics department workshop, so he had to make do.

When he walked into the workshop, he saw a familiar face asleep. Tubbo had fallen asleep in front of his computer, the program he was making still running. Tommy saved his work, and closed the computer. He laughed quietly. Tubbo had a habit of falling asleep in weird places. Tommy pulled out his tools as quietly as he could. He screwed open Spins and started fixing the wires inside of the small robot. He fixed the sensors and reassembled the robot. He turned it on and sent it rolling to the wall. It stopped right before it collided with the white metal.

“Yes! It worked!” He screamed, throwing his hands in his air. Tubbo also screamed, but because he was startled, not because he was celebrating.

“Tommy!” Tubbo yelled indignantly. “I was asleep!”

“Sorry, Big T,” Tommy said quietly.

“You don’t have to whisper, I’m already awake,” Tubbo replied. “Why were you shouting anyway?”

“I fixed Spin’s touch sensors.”

“Nice,” Tubbo said. He picked up the little robot and held it in his hands. “Has he seen the stars yet?”

It was such a weird question, yet Tommy knew what Tubbo meant. Has he,  _ Tommy _ , seen the stars yet?

“No,” Tommy replied. “I’ve been working on him too much to have let him see the stars.”

“Well then let's go,” Tubbo said, pulling the taller boy up. Tubbo pulled Tommy to a hallway, where the boys could see the vast expanse of space. The black back-drop contrasted the variety of stars beautifully. Tubbo held the robot up to the window, its camera eye flicking around wildly. The robot gave out a small beep, showing that it had recorded the data, but Tubbo took this to mean that Spins was happy. Tubbo made a noise similar to the one Spins made, and laughed. Tommy made the noise back, and the three of them continued to beep at each other.

  
  


Tommy looked up. He could see the stars clearly. This was his first time on a planet without light pollution. He could see red, yellow, orange, white and blue stars. Though he couldn’t make out the constellations, he could make out shapes. Triangles, squares, diamonds, trapezoids, they filled the sky with geometric art. It was beautiful, truly beautiful.

Tommy beeped to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

When Tommy re-entered the hatch, Techno was using an extra jumpsuit to dry his hair.

“Is it safe?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, it's safe,” Techno said.

“Yes!” Tommy yelled. “Let’s go!”

“No, I’m tired.”

Tommy groaned. He picked up his bag and pulled out a small gear. He spun it between his fingers. He watched as the small metal reflected the lights of the lifepod. Tommy hummed to himself.

“I’m gonna sleep,” Techno stated. “You should too.”

He turned off the lights, and layed on the dry part of the lifepod. Tommy couldn’t sleep. His mind just kept replaying last night. The alarms blaring, the flashing red lights. He got a headache just thinking about it. He did not think about his most-likely-dead best friend. He remembered seeing all of the other crewmates running toward the lifepods. He wondered just how many survived. Hopefully many, probably only him and Techno. Tommy sighed. He was truly alone, with only Techno and Spins by his side. Tommy laid back and was lulled into sleep by the soft rhythmic waving of the lifepod. 

He did not remember his dreams when he woke, nor did he remember Techno pulling a blanket over him. Tommy woke gradually to the smell of cooking fish. Techno turned and looked at the teen when he noticed that he was awake. 

“Mornin’, Tommy.”

“Morning, Techno. What are you eating?”

“The PDA calls it a peeper. I call it tasty.”

Tommy laughed, and Techno smiled. 

“Do you want some?” Techno offered. Tommy nodded, and the pink haired man handed him the cooked fish. It tasted sort of like trout. Tommy ate it up quickly.

“Can I go into the ocean today?” He asked once he finished the rest of the fish.

Techno nodded and handed him a wetsuit. Tommy examined it. It was dark blue with orange stripes running up the sides. On the left breast was his name,  _ Thomas Nitin _ . Tommy smiled, he was finally gonna explore an alien planet. He felt a small pain in his chest(he had promised Tubbo that they would explore together), but it was overridden by his excitement.

Techno pulled the rest of the wetsuit over his head and left the pod. Tommy quickly changed into his wetsuit and dove after the older man.

He felt cool water cover him and he shivered. He turned, looking for Techno, but eventually found the man. He was scanning the alien flora. Tommy swam next to him and noticed that he was scanning mushrooms. Their caps were convex, and they were white, with lavender stripes. Tommy grabbed one and held it up. It was squishy, like a sponge. A thought flicked through his mind of what it would taste like, but Tommy shook his head. Mushrooms on Terra were dangerous. He had no idea what shit he would hallucinate if he ate this one. Tommy let go of the plant, and let it sink to the ocean floor. 

Techno tapped him on the shoulder, then pointed upward. Tommy took this to mean that he wanted to go to the surface. Tommy swam upward, and removed his face-shield.

“What’s up?” Tommy asked.

“Don’t touch anything. You don’t know how poisonous it is.”

“I’m not ingesting anything, so my wetsuit should protect me.”

Techno shook his head. “Your wetsuit won’t fully protect you. Plus, I’ve only explored a small part of this area, we have no idea what’s out there. Tommy, please be careful.”

“Got it, Techno,” Tommy said. He replaced his face-shield and dove back in the water. He turned around to examine his surroundings. The ground was covered in soft, tan sand. Small outcroppings of the mushrooms dotted the area. Small stones, about the size of Tommy’s head, littered the ground. Orange plate coral grew over the edges of the mini cliffs. Grass grew on the seafloor. Tommy swam down and ran his hand through the soft grass, completely forgetting Techno’s warning. The grass was short, barely longer than his index finger. He looked up again. Tubes of coral were scattered around. Tommy swam up to one. He stuck his head in, deemed it safe, and swam through. He emerged from the other side of it unscathed. Barnacles covered the side of the tube. While Tommy was examining them, he felt a strong hand pull him to the surface. Tommy removed his faceplate.

“Tommy! What did I just tell you? Don’t touch anything!” Techno yelled. “You need to listen to me! I have more experience than you! I know what I’m doing, you don’t!”

“Sorry Techno,” Tommy replied.

“You’re grounded.”

“What? You can’t do that!”

“I am your superior, be grateful I’m not firing you.” Techno said. “Now go back to the lifepod.”

Tommy put his face-shield back on and swam to the pod. He opened the hatch, and removed his wetsuit. He dried off, and put his jumpsuit back on. He was not happy. Techno couldn’t even fire him. He no longer had a job! He was stranded on an alien planet! Tommy grumbled. Techno was a bitch.

Tommy pulled Spins out of his bag. He pulled out his PDA and started flicking through Spins photos. The first one was a photo of the stars. He remembered the morning that photo was taken. The next one was a picture of Tubbo attempting to fit a giant burrito in his mouth. The next one was a mirror selfie, with Tommy and Tubbo wearing sunglasses, holding up Spins. After that was a photo of Tommy holding Tubbo’s sunglasses high above his head. Tubbo was reaching for them, but Tommy held him back. Tommy continued to flick through the photos, knowing that he was crying soft tears, but not caring. Tommy wiped his eyes. He closed the PDA and put it and Spins back in his bag. 

While Tommy sat on the floor, Techno re-entered the pod. He turned, and saw Tommy’s tears.

“Hey, I’m sorry for getting mad. I just want to make sure that you’re safe. I gotta keep you alive.” Techno sat down next to Tommy, and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, something Tommy’s father often did. 

“It-it’s not you. I just miss Tubbo. We g-got separated in the Aurora. He-he’s probably dead.” Tommy choked out in between sobs. “He was my best friend, and now he’s dead. If I-I ever get off this shitty planet, I’m gonna start a bee farm. Tubbo loved bee’s.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. My condolences.” Techno replied after a couple of seconds.

“Dude, you sound like a fucking card,” Tommy laughed. He was interrupted by a voice out of Techno’s PDA.

“ _ Emergency: A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core. The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1- _ ”

Tommy and Techno looked at each other as they felt the lifepod rock with the shock-waves. After the shockwaves subsided, they climbed out of the hatch, and looked at the Aurora. A giant hole was torn in the side. Fires burned, and smoke rose into the sky in thin towers. The Aurora was ¾ submerged, and Tommy recalled that it looked like the “Unsinkable Ship” from the books he would read as a child. Briefly he recalled the Aurora being called the “Indestructible Spacecraft”. Tommy chuckled at the irony. 

His life really had gone to shit.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Tubbo sat in the lifepod alone. He was scared out of his fucking mind. He was alone, first off. Secondly, the floatation devices on the side on  _ Alterra Corporation: Lifepod 3 _ had broken, meaning Tubbo was slowly sinking to the bottom of the endless sea. He curled in on himself.  _ So this is it, huh. After all this time, this is how I die, on the bottom of an alien see, alone in a lifepod. _

Tubbo grabbed his pack, and pulled out his small robot. It didn’t work yet, Tubbo hadn’t coded for it yet. Tommy had built it for him.  _ “It's Spins brother,” _ he had said. The robot had a yellow stripe where Spins blue one was. Tubbo held it close to his chest. Then he realized something.

“Tommy wouldn’t want me to be a coward. He’d say to man up.” Tubbo stood. He walked over to the locker, and pulled out a wetsuit. It was a little big for him, but he didn’t care. Tubbo also grabbed a thermal knife. He opened the top hatch and climbed out of the lifepod. Around the pod was short, red grass. The water was warm. Tubbo saw something shine in the light and swam over to it. It was a part of the Aurora. Tubbo picked up the metal. It was about the size of his chest. Tubbo held the metal and looked around. Tall spires of rocks were scattered randomly around the area. The red grass covered most of the area, and in some places it was taller than Tubbo. He could see more metal wreckage in the distance. Tubbo turned and swam back to the lifepod. It was tilted on its side so Tubbo was able to get in. Tubbo put the metal into the fabricator. It turned into a chunk of titanium. 

Tubbo opened up the locker. Inside was a PDA, some water, dried food, a survival manual, a scanner, and a habitat builder. Bingo. Tubbo pulled up his PDA and started looking at the recipes. He flicked through them. He finally found the multipurpose room recipe. He was glad that he and Tommy had downloaded all of the recipes. Tommy had claimed that he wanted to build a home on some alien planet and wanted the blueprints. Tubbo wanted them because he had to transfer them into dyslexic friendly font. 6 titanium, he would need 6 titanium to build a multipurpose room.

“Ok, let’s think this through. I need 6 titanium. Metal salvage gives me titanium. The larger the salvage, the more titanium. I also need to make a hatch to enter the room. For a hatch I need-um-I need 2 titanium and quartz. So I need 8 titanium and 1 quartz. I should probably get the titanium first.” Tubbo said to himself. He put his PDA back, then climbed out of the hatch of his pod. Tubbo swam to where he saw the most metal salvage. Tubbo grabbed two plates, one the size of his torso and the other about one and a half times that size. He placed them in front of his pod and swam off to grab more. Once he felt like he had enough, he swam to the surface, wanting to see his surroundings.

The sun was about ¾ across the sky, meaning it was about 1400 or 1500. He turned slowly, but the horizon was blank. Small waves covered the top of the ocean, but they did nothing to stall his loneliness. Tubbo was the only human alive on 4546B, and he did not want to think about that.

He dove back under the water.

  
  


**2 hours earlier** :

Tubbo pulled Tommy to the bottom of the ship, where the lifepods were. Tommy had just stopped, complaining about a headache. Tubbo couldn’t waste any more time, he had to get them to the lifepods. The blaring alarm just made him more anxious. Tubbo came to the doors and pulled them open. He ran into the group of people skirting around like ants with a crumb. Tubbo pulled Tommy into the fray but soon realized his friend was gone.

**_Alert: hull breach. Emergency landing failure. Deploying lifepods._ **

Tubbo ran to each undeployed lifepod, looking for Tommy.  _ 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9. _ He couldn’t find his friend. Tubbo ran to the nearest undeployed lifepod and entered it. 6. He closed the hatch and watched the Aurora fade into the distance as he was deployed from the pod. He made sure to put his seatbelt on, and was glad that he did when he crashed into the water. Tubbo watched the sky as he sunk into the depths.

  
  


Tubbo put the titanium aside. He has 8 pieces. The extra one would be good. Tubbo headed back out of the pod. He scanned the seafloor and eventually found a small piece of quartz. Tubbo swam back to the pod and grabbed the metal. He inserted it into the compartment in the habitat builder and watched as a multipurpose room was crafted in the water. Tubbo then built a hatch on the side. Tubbo entered the hatch. He removed his wetsuit, and immediately fell asleep, swimming was tiring after all.

Tubbo dreamed, yet he did not remember the dream when he woke. He did remember his situation, and that was kinda shitty, but Tubbo had to make the best of it. He put his wetsuit back on and left the room. He swam out the hatch and into the lifepod. He packed up as much as he could in a water proof bag and deposited it in the base. He continued to do this until he had almost everything useful out of the pod. He couldn’t remove the fabricator from the wall. 

“Well, I’ll add that to my to-do list,” Tubbo said to himself even though he didn’t have a to-do list. “Time to take inventory. 1 titanium. 2 first-aid kits along with the fabricator in the lifepod. 6 waterbottles. 5 dried food bricks. One waterproof bag. One flashlight. One wetsuit. One thermal knife. One extra jumpsuit. One habitat builder. One scanner. Two PDAs. And one Tubbo.”

He sighed.

“Time to get moving, Big T,” He said, standing. “Time to make a fabricator. What’s the recipe?”

He pulled out his PDA and looked for the recipe. 

“One titanium, got that. One gold and one table coral.” Tubbo straightened his back, put his PDA down and grabbed the scanner. He left the small base.

When he was out in the water, he swam to the surface. Like before, there were no signs of any other survivors. The sun was only a quarter of the way through the sky. So it was about 1000 or 1100. Tubbo dove back into the water. He scanned the seafloor, but couldn’t find any gold. Tubbo swam down, but was unwilling to stick his hand in the grass, who knows what was lurking there. Tubbo continued to swim across the seafloor until he saw a rock. He scanned it, and a female voice was transmitted to his earpiece.

“ _ These common, porous outcrops seem to form around small amounts of precious metals, or otherwise these metals are part of a sedimentary buildup over time. Assessment: Lead, silver and gold source. _ ” The voice said.

_ Well, gold is a precious metal, so I’m gonna take my chances _ . 

Tubbo grabbed the rock and swam back to his base. On the way, he saw some table coral and so he grabbed it. Once inside, he took the rock and smashed it against the floor. It cracked open to reveal a small, golden nugget. Tubbo whooped. He took the knife to the coral and took a piece. He inserted the titanium, gold, and table coral into the compartment. Then he turned to the wall to the right of the hatch. He started the habitat builder up and made the fabricator. Tubbo smiled, Tommy would be proud.

  
  


**One Year Earlier** :

Tubbo sat at the desk, running his hands through his hair. 

“Tommy, I told you before, I can’t do this,” Tubbo said, getting irritated. The small robot was in front of him, just sitting there. Its wires were scattered about, and screws and gears behind it.

“Tubbo, just read the directions. It's really simple.” Tommy said, working on his own robot. Tommy was helping Tubbo train for the Alterra aptitude test. Tubbo had everything but the robotics and English section down.

“I can’t read!” Tubbo shouted. He fully turned toward Tommy.

“What do you mean you can’t read? I’ve seen you read code before.” Tommy asked.

“I’m dyslexic! My code is in dyslexic friendly font! Now help me!” Tubbo shouted. Tommy scooted his chair over to the shorter boy. 

“So first, you’re gonna want to put this black wire into the port that says GND, that means ground. Next, your going to want to put it into a negative pin-hole.” Tommy said. Tubbo watched him. He was really glad that his friend was able to teach him circuits.

  
  


Tubbo sat down. He pulled out his PDA and opened his notes. He created a new one. 

“ _ To-do: get off of this planet. _ ” 

Tubbo set his PDA back down and leaned his head back against his wall. That would be very difficult. Tubbo sighed. He would be on this planet for a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't read the flashback if u don't want to read about child abuse(its only temporary though)

One of the dangers of space travel is boredom. Wilbur was acquainted with that feeling. Although he was one of the workers in the communications department, he was almost never able to communicate with another human being. So, Wilbur took to music. He taught himself the guitar, and eventually, the higher-ups wanted him to play music for the workers. He spent most of his nights in the lower bellies of the ship, playing soft tunes for the workers to stave off the boredom that often preyed on those travelling the vast expanse of space. 

Wilbur was quick to enter a lifepod when the alarms started blaring. With him entered one of the pilots. The pod was ejected from the ship before anyone else could join. Wilbur decided to converse with the man once they both put on their seatbelts.

“So, how’s your night been?” He asked. The two men laughed at the absurdity of the question. 

“The name’s Philza Crafmin, but you can call me Phil,” He held out his hand.

“Wilbur Soot.”

They felt the impact of the water on the pod. It was jarring. 

Once the lifepod stopped bouncing in the waves made by the Aurora crashing into the ocean. 

“So, Wilbur, why did you decide to go on the Aurora?”

“I needed some cash, and Alterra has always paid good. You?”

“I figured that our mission would be fun,” He replied.

“Building a phase-gate is fun?” Wilbur asked, raising one eyebrow.

“No, no, no, the other mission. You didn’t know about it, did you?”

Wilbur shook his head. His legal papers and waivers said nothing about a secondary mission. He was just going to be one of the comms employees, with a side gig as entertainment.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if I tell you now. About a decade ago, a ship, the Degasi, went missing, do you remember that?”

“Yeah, I was 13 when I remembered hearing about it. I didn’t know anyone on the ship, but one of the pilots was my dad’s best friend.” Wilbur answered. He remembered his dad crying and telling him about the Degasi.(“Wilbur, my best friend passed. The ship he was on went dark. They haven’t answered any communication attempts.”)

“Well, the Degasi didn’t just ‘disappear’, it was destroyed by something on 4546B-”

“The planet we are on now.”

“-and so the Aurora was sent to investigate the disappearance. I guess we figured it out. An energy cannon was fired at us, causing a hull breach on the Aurora, and bringing the ship down and killing almost everyone.”

“Oh,” was all that Wilbur was able to say.

“Alterra would skin me if they knew that I told you, but I don’t give a shit about them anymore. We weren’t going to survive this, and they knew that.” Philza spat. “Alterra can go to hell.”

Wilbur laughed. With the new information he had been given, he agreed with Philza. It wasn’t like Alterra was a good corporation either. They paid good, yeah, but they gave their employees almost no insurance and were super strict about goofing off on the clock. Wilbur almost got fired from the  _ Umbral _ about a year ago. Stupid captain getting mad at him for flirting with everyone(except the interns, Wilbur might have been a chaotic asshole, but he wasn’t a creep). Flirting with the captain in response probably wasn’t the best idea, but Wilbur didn’t care.

“Alterra has always been the bane of my existence,” Phil said. “I’ve worked for them for 20 years, and lemme tell you Wilbur, it doesn’t get better when you rank up.”

“I sure hope it gets better, I’d like to get off this planet.”

“Me too, me too,” Philza yawned. Wilbur did too. “We should probably sleep, we are gonna need to rest if we want to survive.”

“Good idea,” Wilbur said as he drifted into sleep.

He dreamt of guitar strings and spiderwebs, two things that he hoped to see again. His limbs felt like bubbles and he rose into the open air, stopping to pop, when he popped the bubble. Wilbur ran around, 13 years old, blowing bubbles with his brother, and watched his father, a man of cobwebs, dissolve in his tears. Wilbur felt himself pop, and woke up in the lifepod. 

Phil was still asleep. Wilbur looked to the control center. 

_ Oxygen Levels: 97.6% Planet 4546B deemed safe for exploration. Lifepods online: 5 and 8. _

Lifepod 8 was the one Wilbur was currently in, so 5 was the only other one online. Wilbur climbed out of the pod and sat on the top of it. He looked outward, seeing only the blank horizon. The Aurora was submerged halfway, and Wilbur knew that anything nearby was dead. Same with the other people in the ship. Lifepods could hold a maximum of 4 people, and to turn one on, you only need one person, so at least 3 people survived, and at most 6 did. Those odds were not good.

Wilbur sighed, and continued to watch the clouds traverse the sky. They were surprisingly Terran. He smiled. The small reminder of Terra was nice on the alien planet. When Wilbur heard stirring below him, he descended the ladder to find Philza waking.

“Good morning, Phil.” Wilbur said.

“Morning, Wilbur,” Phil yawned. “Do you want to go swimming to see if we can find anything?”

“Sure.” WIlbur said, digging through the locker. He found three wetsuits, took the biggest one for himself, and gave Phil the medium one. Wilbur put his on quickly and so did Phil. Phil twisted open the hatch, and the two of them dove into the water. The water was cool, and Wilbur dove to the bottom. He picked up some of the soft sand and let it fall to the ocean floor. Wilbur examined the surrounding area. He couldn’t see any pods under the water either. Well, that eliminated some area that lifepod 5 would be. Wilbur swam about. He found a small cave and dove into it. Eventually, a small red fish swam up to Wilbur. It had one large yellow eye in the middle of its head.

_ Well aren’t you cute-Hey! What the hell! _

The fish exploded in Wilburs chest. It felt like he had been punched in the chest. He could barely breathe. He felt Philza pull him to the surface. His face-plate was torn off. The fresh air was nice, but it did nothing to help him breath.

“F-fish ex-explo-exploded,” he choked out. Philza just held him up as he caught his breath. “A fish exploded.”

“What?”

“A fish exploded on me, the little bitch,” Wilbur replied.

“I bet it had sulfur in it from the way you smell.”

“Thanks, Phil.”

Phil just laughed. “Let’s head back. We might find something cool.”

“Cooler than exploding fish?” Wilbur asked, but Phil was already beneath the waves. The two of them continued to explore until the sun was low in the sky, when they climbed back into the lifepod and ate half of one of the bricks of dried food. They ate quickly.

“Hey Phil, can I ask you a weird favor?”

“Shoot, trust me, I’ve heard weirder.”

“Uh, can you hold me. Not like romantically or anything, but like a dad would.”

“Of course. Y’know, my wife and I wanted kids, but we could never have any, so I wouldn’t mind.” Phil said. He opened his arms, and Wilbur crawled into them. He fell asleep quickly.

  
  


**Twelve Years Ago** :

“Mom, why doesn’t dad love me?” Wilbur asked. He had just turned 13, and his dad had brushed him off when he wanted to show him his presents.

“Wilbur, your dad loves you very much. He-”

“If he loved me he wouldn’t ignore me!”

“Will, he’s busy-”

“No he’s not Mom. He-he just doesn’t care about me anymore.” Wilbur was sobbing at this point.

“Wilbur, your father-”

“Is an asshole.”

“Don’t you dare use that language with me!” His mother shouted. She was turning red in the face.

“I’ll use as much fucking language as I want!” Wilbur shouted, channeling all the anger he had felt into his words.

“Wilbur! Go to your room!”

“I’ll go to my fucking room when I know that Dad loves me!”

With that comment, Mrs. Soot slapped her son across the face. As soon as she did it, she regretted her actions. Wilbur didn't know this, though. His lip trembled as he ran up into his room.

“Wilbur, I’m-”

Her voice was cut off by the slamming of Wilbur’s door. His back ran down the wood as he curled in on himself. The tears dripped down into his lap.

  
  


Wilbur woke up crying. Phil was still holding him, and Wilbur felt like a young kid again. Wilbur wiped his eyes, and the sudden movement woke up Phil.

“Hey, are you ok, son?” The “son” felt artificial in his mouth, but he felt like it would be good in this situation.

“Just bad memories.” Wilbur said quietly. Phil pulled him in a hug, and Wilbur continued to cry. His tears were interrupted by an alert from the screen. 

“ _ Emergency: A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core. The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1-” _

The two of them looked at each other, and Wilbur quickly climbed out of the hatch. He watched as the Aurora exploded and shockwaves were sent across the clear water. Wilbur ducked back into the lifepod and closed the hatch. He did not want to get radiation poisoning.

“How bad is it?” Phil asked.

“Pretty bad.”

“We should probably use the radio to send a message while lifepod 5 is still online.”

“Good idea,” Wilbur replied. He watched as Phil pressed the binking red light to send a message.

“Hello other survivors, this is Philza Crafmin from Lifepod 8. We just watched the Aurora explode. Are you ok? I am uploading my coordinates to you now.”

“That was really bad,” Wilbur said once he finished. “Shoulda let me do it.”

“Oh really?” Phil said.

“Yeah, I was second in command for the comms department.”

“Why were you playing the guitar then?”

“Why do we do anything, Phil? Boredom.”


	5. Chapter 5

Tommy climbed back down the ladder. Watching the Aurora explode was not a good way to start his night. Techno climbed down after Tommy. Tommy sat down on the floor and held Spins. Even if Tubbo had stayed in safety in the Aurora, he was surely dead now. 

“Tommy, the radio has a message.”

_ Maybe it's Tubbo _ .

Techno clicked the red button, and then heard a very un-Tubbo-like voice flow out.

“Hello other survivors, this is Philza Crafmin from Lifepod 8. We just watched the Aurora explode. Are you ok? I am uploading my coordinates to you now.”

The coordinates flashed up on the screen. 

“Tommy, do you want to go?” Techno asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, we should probably get packing then,” Techno said, opening the storage locker. He tossed a water-proof backpack to Tommy, and the two of them packed up the stuff. Techno had to carry the knife and Tommy held the flashlight, but the rest of the stuff fit in the backpack nicely. Tommy made sure that Spins was safe and dry. The two of them opened the hatch, and said goodbye to the pod.

They swam in the dark ocean, and Tommy was glad that he had a light. The ocean was creepy, and he could see slight bioluminescence on the fauna. Tommy watched as peepers swam by him. The fact that he couldn’t hear anything freaked him out. He reached out for Techno, and was relieved to grasp onto the older man. Techno turned, looking at him quizzically. Tommy temporarily let go of him to give him a thumbs up, but was yanked backward by a force on his leg.

Tommy screamed as teeth plunged into his right calve. He was dragged backward and downward. He tried to swim away, but the  _ thing _ holding him didn’t let go. On his descent, he hit his head on a rock outcropping. He watched the crimson spread and grow, like those sped up videos of fungus. Tommy turned to see a gator-like thing holding him. Its snout was long and thin, like a gharial. Its teeth were creamy white, but stained with Tommy’s blood. It was glowing green, in some weird pattern of bioluminescence. The thing dragged him to the edge of the cliff off of the safe shallows. Tommy watched as he was dragged beneath tall kelp. He attempted to grab onto the kelp, but was unable to reach it.

Techno swam after them, but was much slower than the thing holding Tommy, so Tommy decided he might as well go down fighting. He turned and slammed his flashlight down on the things head. It released him and swam off. Tommy started swimming upward. He needed oxygen.

When he reached the surface, he took off his faceplate and took in the salty night air. He inhaled quickly, looking at the stars as they were much more pleasant than the blood below him. Techno swam up next to him and immediately started supporting him.

“Tommy, are you ok?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” He replied. “Leave me here. If those things are attracted to blood, they’ll come for me and you can keep going.”

“If they were attracted to blood, they would have eaten you by now, you imbecile. C’mon, we gotta keep going.”

“Leave me Techno, I am but fish bait.”

“Dude, what the fuck?”

Tommy looked to the stars, they were really beautiful. He felt so light, so, so light. Something was dragging him backward, but he didn’t care. He closed his eyes, and let himself be dragged through the inky water.

  
  


Tommy awoke on the floor of a lifepod. He was wrapped up in blankets. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to loosen them. He saw three figures on the other end of the lifepod. One of them was Techno, Tommy didn’t recognize the other two. They were conversing. Tommy could barely hear them, his ears felt like they had been filled with cotton, but he could make out some words. Their voices blended together and made it hard to differentiate who was speaking.

“...he’s my apprentice...robotics department...who’s Tubbo?...I have no idea...probably a friend...sounds like a nickname...I don’t know his real name…”

“Toby,” Tommy croaked out. “His real name is Toby, but he doesn’t like it.”

“You’re awake,” Techno said. “Welcome back, buddy. You’ve been asleep for 13 hours. Thought I lost you.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” The other two men laughed.

“I’m Phil,” the blond one said.

“WIlbur,” The one with curly brown hair said.

“I’m sure Techno told you about me, but I’m Tommy.” He sat up and held out his hand. His leg was wrapped in bandages. He pulled it closer to him to examine it, but Techno stopped him.

“I might not be a medic, but I’ve had to bandage a few injuries in the robotics department. I don’t want you swimming until its fully healed, ok?”

“Fine,” Tommy said, though he was secretly relieved that he wouldn’t have to reenter the murky depths.

“We should probably do more introductions than our names,” Phil said. “So, I’m Phil, I have a wife, and I was one of the pilots.”

“Um, I like potatoes,” Techno said, scratching the back of his head.

“Mashed or baked?” Wilbur asked.

“Raw,” He said sheepishly.

“Disgusting,” Tommy added. “So I’m Tommy, I like robots-oh, gimme my bag please.”

Techno handed him his bag. Tommy dug through it and pulled out Spins.

“This is Spins, he’s my robot. He’s not waterproof so we gotta keep him here.”

All of the adults nodded.

“So I’m Wilbur, I’m good at music I guess,” Wilbur added.

The three of them settled into awkward silence. Tommy fiddled with his blanket. He laid back down and tried to fall asleep. Yet, he just passed out for 13 hours, and so sleep didn’t come. He turned to face the wall, making sure he was laying on his uninjured left leg. 

  
  


**Eight Years Ago** :

“C’mon, slowpoke!” The small voice said. Tommy was really impatient.

“I’m almost there, gimme a hand,” Tubbo reached out his hand. Tommy pulled his friend up the hill. They continued walking through the forest. The trees were evergreen, and so the boys eventually deemed one good enough to be a house for them.

“Look at this one, Tubbo,” Tommy said.

Tubbo walked underneath the tree.

“No spiders, Tommy, it’s ok to come in,” Tubbo said. Tommy walked in and laid down the blanket he had brought. Tubbo put his backpack in the middle of them and opened it up. He handed Tommy a chocolate chip cookie and ate one himself. The two boys continued to eat the cookies until all of them were gone.

“I’m Big Law,” Tubbo said out of nowhere. “I’m a lawyer.”

“What?” Tommy asked. Tubbo bonked him with a stick he found.

“Obey the law,” He said.

“What are-Hey!”

Tubbo kept bonking Tommy, so Tommy decided to retaliate. He tackled Tubbo to the ground. 

“Take that, Big Law!” He said.

“Be careful, I’m a lawyer,” Tubbo said as he dumped his water bottle on Tommy. The two of them froze, then continued to laugh. They eventually walked home, soaked to the bone and high on sugar-y cookies.

  
  


Tommy continued to watch the white wall as the memory played in his mind. He would have loved to go back, but if Tommy knew anything, he knew that he had to keep moving forward. Dwelling on the past would do nothing.

“We should make a plan,” He said, sitting up. “Here, I’ll create a to-do list on my PDA and share it to yours’.”

He pulled up his notes app and started on the to-do list.

“The most important thing we have to do is get off the planet,” He started.

“I actually think that that's the last step,” Phil said. “Firstly, we should try to build a base, that way we aren’t in this tiny lifepod forever.”

“We should also get food,” Techno said. “I know that Peepers are safe to eat.”

“What about me? I’m stuck here.” Tommy said.

“Watch the radio, provide us with supplies, keep an eye out for any other survivors.” Wilbur said.

“Those jobs are fucking stupid though!”

Wilbur flinched, and though Tommy noticed, he didn’t think much of it, but he did get quieter.

“Tommy, you got yourself injured, you have to recover,” Techno said. “I’m going to go catch some Peepers, I’ll be back.”

“Can I come?” Wilbur asked. Techno nodded. The two of them put on their wetsuits and left the bottom hatch. That left Phil and Tommy to sit in silence.

“So, Tommy, what made you take up a job with Alterra? Not many kids want to work for them.”

“I thought it would be fun to go to space. I also figured that it would be a good way to jumpstart my career.”

“Career?”

“I wanted to be head of robotics at Alterra.”

“That’s a big dream.”

“Shoot for the moon and you’ll land amongst the stars,” Tommy said. Him and Phil started laughing. “So, why’d you decide to work for Alterra?”

“Same as you, I guess. I started with an internship and just worked my way up the ranks.”

“Are you gonna stick with them after this?”

“Probably not. This was going to be my last mission anyway. My wife works from home, and I was going to join her.”

“What does your wife do?”

“She does finances for people,” He said. 

“Sounds boring.”

“Sounds better than being stuck on an alien planet.”

“Touche, big man, touche.”

Eventually, Techno and Wilbur returned with 4 Peepers. They cooked them in the fabricator, and ate them. The 3 adults were able to distract Tommy from missing Tubbo, and he slept soundly that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Tubbo sat in his base. He had just built a locker, and was organizing his stuff. He put his personal belongings on the top shelf. He wouldn’t need them urgently, so he put them out of his reach. He put the metal and quartz on the second shelf. The tools went on the third shelf, and the bottom shelf was empty.

“Well, if I’m gonna be stuck on this planet, I might as well make myself comfortable,” Tubbo said. He liked thinking out loud. It helped him organize his thoughts. “I should make a comfortable place to sit. Maybe a char? No, a bed. I’ll make a bed. Let’s look up the recipe.”

_ One titanium and one fiber mesh. One fiber mesh is made from creep vine samples.  _

“I don’t know where creepvines are, so I’m gonna go find them,” Tubbo said. It was night, but Tubbo wasn’t scared.

  
  


**Three Years Ago** :

“Tommy, I really don’t want to be here,” Tubbo said, holding his flashlight close. He kept looking around anxiously. 

“C’mon Tubbo, it's not that bad,” Tommy said, ducking into a crevice. The two boys were exploring a cave near Tommy’s new house.

“Can we go, please?” Tubbo whispered. He heard a rock fall behind him and he screamed. It was only a pebble, but it still scared him. He reached for Tommy and grabbed onto his arm. 

“Ha, you’re scared of the dark!”

“Not that, something else,” Tubbo replied, burying his face in Tommy’s arm.

“That’s lame,  _ I’m  _ not scared of anything.”

“Liar.” Tubbo replied.

“Oh, really?” 

“You’re scared of spiders,” Tubbo pointed out.

“Am not!”

“Uh-huh, you are.”

The two boys continued to bicker, and Tubbo was no longer scared of the small space the two were enclosed in.

  
  


Tubbo swam out into the cool, dark water. He had his flashlight and held it in front of him. He swam north-east, and was soon greeted with tall kelp. In the darkness, the kelp looked like the tentacles of Cthulhu. They were dark green and Tubbo was sure that if he touched one it would be slimy. The water had a dark green tint. On the vines grew yellow clusters of what appeared to be seeds. Tubbo grabbed his knife and cut off two leaves. He saw something fall, and swam over to it on the bottom of the sea. 

It was about Tubbo’s size, and it was thin. The creature was obviously a predator. Tubbo could tell by its large teeth adorning its thin jaw. They reminded Tubbo of the dinosaurs he saw in books when he was young. Tubbo decided to swim back. Whatever killed this thing must be very dangerous, and Tubbo didn’t want to stick around to figure out if his hypothesis was correct. He quickly swam off, staying on the bottom of the water. He returned to his base out of breath. He shut the hatch behind him, making sure that it was shut tight. He sat down, out of breath.

“What the fuck killed that thing?”

Tubbo crawled over to his locker and grabbed a brick of dehydrated food. He ate half of it, then downed an entire bottle of water. Tubbo stood and walked to the fabricator. Placing the creepvine samples on the platform, he pressed the button to make fiber mesh. He pulled out his habitat builder and inserted the fiber mesh and titanium. He turned to the other side of his base. After he had built his bed, he removed his wetsuit and settled under the covers. 

Tubbo had no idea how titanium and fiber mesh made a bed, but when sleep took him, he no longer cared.

  
  


**Ten Years Ago:**

“Tommy!” Tubbo called out. “This isn’t funny!”

“I think it is,” Tommy replied, voice muffled by the door in between them.

“Let me out!” Tubbo slammed his hands against the door. 

“No.” Tommy replied. He was holding the door closed, as there was a lock on the inside, so Tubbo could let himself out if he were locked in. Yet, the closet was small, and to Tubbo, the coats looked like monsters in the darkness. He continued to pound the door with his small fists, until he realized Tommy was gone. Tubbo opened the door, and walked downstairs. He saw Tommy being held by his mum. Tommy’s mama was rubbing her wife’s back.

“What’s wrong, Aunty?” Tubbo asked. 

“Come ‘ere.” Aunt Aimee said. Tubbo crawled into her lap. She held him tightly.

“Tubbo, do you know about the Degasi?” She asked.

“The ship that Uncle Jordan was on?”

“Yes, that one, honey. That ship-it-it went missing. It hasn’t answered any communication attempts for weeks.”

“Oh,” was all that Tubbo was able to say. He knew that Uncle Jordan was most likely dead, but he didn’t know how to react. His young mind was unable to process the reality of the situation. “What are they gonna do, Aunty?”

“Send rescue ships out. The first one will be departing in about 4 years,  _ the Umbral _ .”

“That’s too long! They’re never gonna find Uncle Jordan!” Tommy cried. He pounded his small fists against his mom’s chest. 

“Well, maybe you could find him,” Aunty Liza said. “Uncle Jordan is good at surviving, and maybe you could find him.”

“But space is so big!” Tubbo said, opening his arms wide. 

“And I don’t think that they let first graders in space,” Tommy said sadly.

“The  _ Aurora _ will be launching when you’re 16, maybe you could get an internship?” Aunt Aimee suggested.

“If we go to space, I call being the captain!” Tommy said.

“Nu-uh, I get to be the captain, I’m much smarter than you,” Tubbo said, sticking his tongue out at Tommy.

“Hey!” Tommy said. He put his hand on his chest like Uncle Jordan. Tubbo laughed. Going on the  _ Aurora _ to look for Uncle Jordan was a great idea.

  
  


Going on the  _ Aurora _ to look for Uncle Jordan was a shitty idea, Tubbo decided. He was laying in his bed, looking at the roof of his pod. He sat up, unable to go back to sleep. Tubbo stretched, hearing a satisfying  _ pop! _ He walked over to his locker, and picked up the other half of his brick. If this were normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have eaten it, but this wasn’t normal circumstances. Tubbo ate it, then put his wetsuit on. He wanted to see the predator’s corpse in the daylight.

Grabbing his scanner, Tubbo steeled himself for the journey ahead. He opened the hatch and dove into the lukewarm water. He swam toward the kelp and noticed living versions of the mystery predator swimming near the surface. Tubbo, not wanting to deal with them, swam to the bottom of the “forest”. He quickly located the predator and pulled out his scanner.

“ _ A streamlined predator encountered in the kelp forests in wait of prey leaving the safety of the shallows to feed. The stalker likely carved out its evolutionary niche at the sweet spot between speed and size millions of years ago, and may be one of the oldest species on the planet. _ ”

Then, the voice of the PDA said, “ _ This organism is displaying signs of a bacterial infection. Bright green blisters are forming networks around the infection sites. Pathology suggests a waterborne bacterium capable of penetrating the body through the skin and respiratory system. Underlying indications of genetic mutation and aggressive behavior.The bacterium itself is unlike any so far recorded in human exploration. WARNING: May be contagious. Avoid. Do not under any circumstances consume the flesh. _ ” 

Tubbo frowned. He swam upward as he would rather not die from the fish. It's just as dangerous dead as alive. Yet, in doing so, he forgot about the living stalkers. One of them quickly swam up to him and wrapped its teeth around Tubbo’s arm. Tubbo bopped it on the head with his scanner and quickly swam off. Yet, Tubbo was using his non-dominant hand to hit the stalker, and so, unlike the other one, this one did not die. It quickly regained its senses and started swimming after Tubbo.

Tubbo grabbed a piece of metal salvage, in an attempt to get something heavy to hit the stalker with, but the stalker did something unexpected. It grabbed the metal in its teeth, and swam off. Tubbo did not want to stick around to find out why the stalker did that, so he swam back to his base quickly.

Once in the base, Tubbo walked over to his locker and pulled out one of the first aid kits. He grabbed the disinfectant as he didn’t want to get the mysterious alien virus, and poured it into the wound on his arm. His screams filled the small base and tears dripped down from Tubbos face. He put the lid back on the disinfectant and put it away. Tubbo pulled out some bandages and started wrapping his wound.

When he was done, he pulled open his PDA and added a note to the stalker’s page. 

“ _ Likes metal for unknown reasons. _ ”

Tubbo set his PDA down, and sat in his base. He didn’t want to sit in here and be bored all day, but he also didn’t want to go back outside with the stalker.

Boredom or injury?

Tubbo decided he would rather be injured. He opened up the hatch and looked around. He couldn’t see the stalker. Tubbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Then, he felt something bump up against his leg. Tubbo turned to see the stalker holding a small piece of metal(it appeared to be part of a pipe). Tubbo froze as he watched the gharial-like beast put the pipe in his hand. Then, it started swimming around him. It nuzzled up to him, like a cat, and Tubbo giggled. Maybe they weren’t so scary after all.

_ I’m gonna call you Beckerson. _

The stalker continued to swim around Tubbo. Tubbo swam around with it and the two of them continued to do so until Tubbo got tired. Tubbo re-entered his base and removed his wetsuit. He sat on his bed and picked up his PDA

“ _ Likes metal for unknown reasons. If you give them metal, they become friendly. _ ”

Tubbo set his PDA back down and laid on his bed. He drifted off to sleep, dreaming of stalkers and metal.


	7. Chapter 7

Tommy sat on the floor of the lifepod, bored out of his mind. He had nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs. He watched the radio for most of the day. It was very boring. No new messages came in. Tommy could tell you that even if he never looked at the radio. Lifepods 8 and 5 were the only ones online. Yet, Tommy still sent out a good morning message everyday, hoping for a response. Today, he got one.

“ _ This is Avery Quinn of the trading ship Sunbeam. Aurora, do you read? Over. _

_ “Nothing but vacuum. These Alterra ships. They run low on engine grease, they send an SOS; you offer to help, they don't pick up. _

_ “Aurora, we're out on the far side of the system, it's going to take more than a week to reach your position, do you still need our assistance? Over. _

_ “I'll try them again tomorrow. Damn charter's going to have us wasting our profit margin running errands for Alterra.  _

_ “See what the long-range scanner picks up in the meantime." _

Tommy quickly jumped out of his seat to get to the radio, but stumbled as his leg was still very sore. He tried to reach the radio before the transmission ended, but he couldn’t Tommy sat back against the wall and lightly knocked his head against the metal. One week until rescue. Techno, Wilbur, and Phil would be happy to hear this. Tommy sat on the floor until the adults re-entered the pod. They were working on building a base. 

“There was a message,” Tommy said. Wilbur just looked at him, shocked. Phil actually pressed the button. Tommy listened to the male voice again.

“You didn’t respond?” Techno asked angrily. Tommy motioned to his leg. Though he didn’t notice it at first, Tommy could now see the ripped stitching. 

“Sorry,” He said. 

“No, it’s fine.” Techno said. He pulled out a first aid kit and kneeled in front of Tommy. “This is gonna sting.” 

Techno pulled out the torn stitches and Tommy screamed. Yet, Tommy was glad that Techno was doing it. Phil would have gone slowly to be careful, but it would have hurt a lot more. Wilbur would have gone fast, but would have completely screwed it up.

Techno grabbed the disinfectant and put it on a small cloth. He wiped the area around Tommy’s wound. Tommy clenched his fists, unwilling to scream any more. Techno quickly stitched the wound back up. A couple of tears leaked from Tommy’s eyes and he wiped them away quickly.

When Techno was done, he re-wrapped the wound. Tommy looked down at it. The bandages didn’t look like that of an expert surgeon, but Tommy knew that they would hold. Tommy leaned back again.

“Tommy, you have to be more careful,” Phil said.

“Well sorry that I wanted to get off of this fucking planet!” Tommy spat. Phil just frowned. Tommy though he looked like his Mum.

“Tommy-” Phil began.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m just tired.”

“We all are,” Phil said as he sat next to Tommy. “I’ll stay with you while Techno and Wilbur go make the base. You can sleep and I’ll watch the radio.”

Tommy just nodded, yawning. He had been losing sleep to watch the radio. He laid his head on Philza’s shoulder and fell into sleep.

Tommy woke to the quiet chatter of the adults. He decided to stay asleep a little while longer to listen to them.

“I’m worried about him,” Wilbur said. “I don’t think that getting stranded on an alien planet would be the best for his mental health.”

“I don’t think that it’s good for any of us,” Philza replied. 

“Yes, but traumatic events affect younger people more,” Wilbur said.

“True,” Techno said. “Um, does anyone know ways to minimize trauma?” 

“My psychologist said exercise helps, especially swimming,” Wilbur said. 

“Well, we can’t let him swim until his leg heals, but when it does I’ll take him swimming,” Techno said. Tommy smiled. He’d like that. Tommy drifted back into sleep.

He woke to Phil lightly shaking his shoulder. 

“Tommy, wake up,” He whispered.

“Huh?” Tommy said. “I’m awake. What do you want?”

“Can you climb the ladder?”

“Probably.”

“Ok, look outside.”

Tommy stood and climbed the ladder, putting most of his weight on his left leg. Techno and Wilbur were looking at the sky. The large moon was covering the sun in an amazing solar eclipse. The sky was tinted dark red and the corona was a brilliant shade of orange. Tommy was in awe. It was truly beautiful. He continued to watch it until Phil pulled him down. Techno and Wilbur followed.

“I didn’t get to see the end of it!” Tommy protested.

“If you did, you wouldn’t see anything,” Techno replied. “The sudden influx of light would burn your retinas.”

Tommy just scowled. 

“Don’t blame me,” Techno said, holding his hands up. “Blame the shitty-ness of human biology.”

Tommy laughed. Techno smiled. Wilbur and Philza joined in Tommy’s obnoxious laughter. The four of them sat down. Techno pulled out some cured Peepers and filtered water(he figured out how to make it from bladderfish.). The four of them ate together.

“So, Phil, you’ve been in space the longest, have any weird stories?” Wilbur asked with a mouthful of peeper. 

“Chew with your mouth closed,” He reprimanded. “A guy tried to convince me that lobsters were timetravelling aliens once.”

“What?” Techno deadpanned.

“Yea, he claimed that they were even more intelligent than humans and were unwilling to take over Terra because they didn’t have thumbs.”

“How-how many drugs was he taking?” Wilbur asked, this time with an empty mouth.

“All of them I guess,” Philza said.

Tommy and Techno laughed.

“No, but you guys have to understand, this guy was  _ smart _ . He was the head of the programming department. He just was so so stupid at times.”

“Like Tommy?” Techno asked.

“Hey!” Tommy said only paying attention to the “stupid” part. “You’re the stupid one, you son of a bitch! I’m so much fucking smarter than you!”

Tommy talked quickly, and if there was a record for the number of cusswords in a single breath, Tommy surely beat it. Wilbur and Phil were looking at him, wide-eyed, but Techno continued to eat his Peeper non-chalantly.

“I said you were smart, too,” Techno said when he finished. For once in his life, Tommy was speechless. Techno Blade, the head of the robotics department on the  _ Aurora _ , the man who no-one knew his real name, was proud of Tommy. 

Wilbur and Phil laughed at his shocked face. Tommy started laughing with them. It truly felt like a family dinner back on Terra. When Tommy slept that night, he did not dream, for he was content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for reaper leviathan next chapter :)


	8. Chapter 8

The water was a nice temperature. Not too hot, not too cold. Tubbo thought that it was perfect to train Beckerson in. The stalker would often go hunting with Tubbo, but as he believed that they had a nice amount of food stocked up, he figured the two of them could play today. Tubbo fashioned a hoop out of some leftover titanium from his pod. The boy had deconstructed the pod as he believed he wouldn’t have any use for the desecrated machinery. Nothing worked anyway. The radio only played static, the fabricator sparked and fizzled, and the communication hub only displayed a blank, blue screen. The extra titanium was nice, though.

Tubbo held the hoop up. Beckerson swam through it gleefully. Tubbo clapped, letting the hoop slowly drift down. He gave Beckerson a Boomerang fish. The stalker ate it up quickly. Tubbo swam down to pull the hoop out of the dark red grass. Although Tubbo got nervous around the flora, he was able to dampen his fear. 

Tubbo reached into the soft grass and pulled the metal hoop out. Beckerson decided this would be the best time to headbutt Tubbo and scare him. Tubbo made a little  _ oomf _ noise, and lightly bopped the stalker on the nose. Beckerson just wiggled about. Tubbo couldn’t stay mad at the purple predator and he giggled. Beckerson headbutted Tubbo again, and swam off. Tubbo dropped the hoop to swim after the stalker. 

Westward the two swam in the early morning water. Often, Beckerson would slow down to let Tubbo catch up. Less often, Tubbo would swim to the surface of the water to get oxygen. Once, Beckerson swam up to him when his head was above water, and lightly dragged his leg(Tubbo had added extra padding so that the stalker wouldn’t hurt him.). Tubbo screamed. Feeling something try to drag you down to the inky depths was not the most comforting thing. When Beckerson let go of Tubbo, Tubbo bopped him. Beckerson took this to mean that they were still playing.

The two of them continued to swim through the grassy plateau until they came to the edge. A drop off surrounded them.

_ We should probably head home, Beckerson. _ Tubbo thought even though Beckerson couldn’t read minds.  _ This doesn’t feel too safe _ . 

Tubbo looked over the edge of the cliff. It was dark, and he couldn’t see the bottom. He didn’t want to swim down. If he knew anything from Terra’s oceans, it was that the deeper you go, the creepier the things get. Suddenly, a female voice transmitted to Tubbo’s earpiece, scaring him.

“ _ Warning: Detecting multiple Leviathan Class predators _ .”

As soon as her voice finished, Tubbo heard a loud roar. It was deep, and seemed to rattle the boy’s bones. He could almost imagine the roar breaking any object near the source. The sound seemed to echo in his skull. Tubbo watched as Beckerson frantically swam off. He turned to do the same, but the source of the roar spotted him first.

It was long, maybe a hundred times as long as Beckerson. The top of its body was a deep, blood red. Four black eyes, like spider eyes, seemed to stare into Tubbo’s soul. They reminded him of a wolf spider, with the smaller eyes on the bottom. Scars littered its body, pale pink crevices scratched across on pale blue skin. It did not have scales, like Terran fish. Instead, it had almost human-like skin. Red frills followed the length of its body. It was slowly drifting in the water, tail swishing from side to side. A large red horn on the top of its head gave it an even more otherworldly quality. Four large mandibles framed its face. Sharp teeth adorned its mouth. There was no question. This thing was a predator. 

And Tubbo was its prey. 

Tubbo was frozen in fear, but he soon regained his senses and swam off. Yet, since he was slower than Beckerson, he was definitely slower than this thing. His head start would soon be useless. Tubbo heard the roar behind him again. He did not turn as he did not want to waste any time. Tubbo scanned the plateau frantically, looking for any place to hide.

He did not see one.

Tubbo continued to swim, desperate to escape his pursuer. He dove into the grass, completely forgetting about his prior reluctance. Tubbo looked up, right as the leviathan dove down toward him. Tubbo quickly turned and swam off. His legs and arms burned, but Tubbo figured survival was more important than comfort. He soon spotted a cave. It wasn’t as small as he would have liked, but it would do for now. 

The boy swam into the cave. The leviathan tried to follow, but it was much too large. Its mandibles scraped the entrance. Tubbo pulled out his scanner. Even though his life was at risk, he’d still like to collect some data. The familiar female voice transmitted to his ear. 

“ _ Leviathan class species are vast organisms at the top of their respective food chains. This species is a streamlined hunter, with highly developed senses.  _

_ “Powerful Mandibles: This leviathan is capable of locking prey in place with four powerful mandibles and drawing it within reach of its jaws. Simulated pressure exceeds Seamoth crush resistance. _

_ “Echolocation: The deep roar emitted by the reaper at regular intervals is effectively sonar - if you can hear it, the reaper can see you. _

_ “Profile: The scanned specimen measured 55m long. Observed circling its prey and attacking from behind. This creature is almost all muscle. Very little brain. No sense of morality. Just muscle, synapses, and teeth. _

_ “Motivational note: Congratulations on getting close enough to scan it and living to see the results! _

_ “Assessment: Extreme threat - Avoid in all circumstances” _

_ That would have been nice to know before. _ Tubbo thought bitterly. The reaper leviathan continued to attempt to eat Tubbo for who knows how long, but swam off when it realized it could get prey elsewhere. Tubbo would have stayed in the cave, it was  _ safe _ , but night was falling, and the Reaper could sneak up on him at any time. Tubbo quickly swam back to his base. He did not see Beckerson, but he was not concerned with that. He tightly shut the hatch. Tubbo removed his wetsuit and got into bed, yet sleep didn’t come. He continued to stare at the hatch, the image of the Reaper busting through the metal like it was tissue paper was unable to leave his mind. The boy could almost hear the leviathan’s roar. Tubbo covered every part of his body, minus his eyes, with the blanket. He held his knife close to him. He laid like that until morning, and did not leave his base until the next day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no chapter yesterday

Philza sat in the seamoth. Techno had just finished building it, and he wanted to test it out. Yet, the former head of the robotics department was not the best driver, Phil learned while watching him run into rock after rock. The two of them decided that Phil should drive it. Techno stood behind Phil. It was a tight fit, but it worked. 

The machine moved northward. Techno and Phil sat in silence. It was peaceful. Phil always enjoyed the ocean. Him and his wife were married on the beach, actually. It was a beautiful ceremony, and so Phil associated the ocean with his wife. Both were majestically powerful. Often peaceful, their rages could kill even the strongest man. And Phil loved them both.

Phil looked ahead. He could see the tall strands of kelp in the distance. They were dark green, with large flat leaves. Phil turned on the light, not wanting to navigate the area in the dark. Techno nodded, agreeing with him. Phil didn’t often work with Techno on the Aurora, but he liked how he was able to understand the man even though he said nothing. Phil made the seamoth go upward. He often saw predatory fauna in the kelp, and he did not want to have to deal with them today. 

The sky was nice today, Phil noticed once he surfaced. It was a nice creamy blue. Soft fluffy clouds dotted the sky. They reminded Phil of cotton candy. He smiled. He noticed Techno did too.

“What do you miss most about Terra?” He asked out of nowhere.

“My wife,” Phil responded.

“Obviously, but like, besides her. Like, do you miss the stars, or the flowers, or the minnows? What is the most unimportant thing that you miss?”

“That’s a difficult question, Techno.”

“Yes, here, I’ll answer it first. I miss my mother’s cooking. I’ve missed it for a long time, she died when I was 14, but I miss it most now. She wasn’t a good cook, but I still miss it.”

“Oh,” Phil responded. Techno was a private person, and so the fact that he was telling Phil this was very odd. “I miss hearing my wife sing in the early morning. She would always sing while making breakfast.”

Phil smiled at the memory.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” Techno replied. Phil nodded. 

Phil made the seamoth go below the surface again. They continued northward, and eventually left the kelp behind for mushrooms. Yet, these mushrooms weren’t Terran. They were huge, the caps were bigger than the seamoth. The underside of the cap was a bright orange. The top was a green-black color. Also unlike Terran mushrooms, multiple caps adorned a singular stalk. They connected via the side of the cap, not the center of the bottom. Phil was in awe. Techno made a note on his PDA that to the north were large mushrooms. 

Phil watched as Peepers drifted next to the seamoth. This biome was very peaceful. When Tommy recovered, Phil would like to take him here. As they drifted downward, Phil noticed large bioluminescent rays drifting next to them. They were a light blue, almost teal, with a long thin tail extending from the back of their light purple bodies. 

“Wanna scan them?” Techno asked. Phil nodded. The two of them adorned their faceplates and left the seamoth. Phil watched as Techno popped his back. Phil, standing at the height of 5’11, was uncomfortable. He couldn’t imagine how annoying it must have been for his 6’3 friend. Philza left Techno to his own devices, trusting that the other man would be responsible, and swam after the ray. He pulled out his scanner and pressed the on button. Pale blue light emitted from the device. A woman’s voice transmitted to his earpiece.

“ _ This species has adapted to low-light environments with a translucent, luminescent body. _

_ “Luminescent Body: This adaptation may help to light up the surrounding area for foraging, ward away predators, and identify the organism to others of its kind. _

_ “Light-Sensitivity: Smaller creatures have been seen swimming in the jellyray's wake to take advantage of the light source for their own ends, and the ray itself will approach light sources, perhaps mistaking them for others of its own species. _

_ “Assessment: Inedible _ ”

Phil nodded. The ray wiggled once he was done scanning, as if the light tickled. It swam off quickly. Phil swam to one of the mushrooms and started scanning them. He noticed Techno was examining the coral growing on them. The familiar female voice filled his ears again.

“ _ A large, spore bearing fungus. Evolved to massive sizes to soak up sunlight. _

_ “Assessment: Inedible.” _

Phil swam to Techno and tapped him on the shoulder. He held up a thumbs up, Techno returned the gesture. He pointed to the seamoth. Techno nodded. The two of them swam back. They got into the machine. This time, Techno took the wheel. The two of them removed their faceplates.

“So, you’re gonna drive?” Phil asked.

“That’s what I’m plannin’ on,” Techno replied. He turned the machine on. Phil grabbed onto the seat when it lurched. Techno eventually got the hang of it, and the two continued to drive back. Techno drove faster than Phil, but Phil didn’t mind. He wanted to get “home” quick. Who knows whether Wilbur and Tommy were ok? Though the man didn’t realize it yet, he viewed the three boys as sons. 

Once they reached the pod, Phil and Techno donned their faceplates and swam out of the seamoth. They entered the pod to see Wilbur and Tommy asleep, curled up together. Tommy’s leg was the only thing stretched out, the stitching needing to stay stitched up.

Phil smiled. To him they looked like his little siblings when they were young. Techno shocked their shoulders. They woke up.

“There was a message-” Wilbur started.

“-but we couldn’t respond. The signal was too far.” Tommy finished. He stood, using the wall as support, and pressed the glowing red button.

“ _ Aurora, this is Sunbeam again. We just picked up a massive debris field at your location. _

“ _ I didn't know how bad... How many of you... I didn't know. _

“ _ We are now en route to your location. We're going to bring you home. Sunbeam out. _

“ _ What else can I say? The only time I parked a rig this big on a rock that small was in VR, and I blew it _

“ _ Oh, it's a bad option alright, but so are all the others. _ ”

Phil was happy about the fact that they would be rescued, but he knew it was hopeless. Wilbur did too, he could see it on his face. The two of them knew of the  _ Aurora _ ’s real mission. The  _ Sunbeam _ would perish just like the military-grade ship did. They would not tell the other two, no matter how shitty their situation, hope could provide a tether. Phil steeled himself, and made himself look hopeful.

“Wonderful,” Techno said, and for once, he was not monotonous. He sounded happy, almost.

Wilbur and Tommy smiled too. 

“When I get to Terra, I’m totally gonna take a nap,” Tommy said.

“Really, that’s what you’re gonna do?” Wilbur said.

“Yea, what else would I do?”

“I dunno. I’m gonna eat some mac and cheese.” Wilbur said. “I really want some mac and cheese.”

Phil snorted. “Well I’m gonna do what Tommy’s doing, I’m going to take a nap.”

“I’m going to eat so many potatoes,” Techno laughed. The others laughed with him. “But now, I’m gonna sleep.”

“Goodnight, Techno,” Wilbur yawned.

“You all, sleep,” Phil said. “I can watch the radio.”

“You sure?” Tommy asked.

“Yes, now sleep.”

Tommy laughed, then yawned. Techno did not, he was already asleep. As the three boys drifted into sleep, Phil watched them drift together. Wilbur was in the middle, with Tommy on his left. Tommy was curled into Wilbur's side. Techno was a flat as a board. Phil chuckled, he looked like his robots, stiff and unmoving. Phil pulled Wilbur’s glasses off his face and set them on the chair next to him. His curly brown hair fell over his closed eyes.

He smiled at the boys. He would not let any harm come to them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda angsty so if the election is stressing u out, go read some fluff

Holding his knife, Tubbo peeked around his base. The reaper leviathan had scared the shit out of him, and he did not believe that he would survive its next attack. He did not see the leviathan or hear its roar, so he believed he was safe. He also did not see Beckerson, but when he noticed the metal piled outside of the hatch, he knew the stalker was apologizing for abandoning him. Tubbo made a mental note that going east was stupid, so he decided to go south today.

He swam over the red grass, letting his hand drift down into the soft flora. After the leviathan incident, Tubbo no longer feared the tall grass. Nothing was scary compared to the Reaper. Tubbo was glad that he couldn’t hear its roar. If he couldn’t hear it, it couldn’t see him. Tubbo swam upward. The  _ Aurora _ was still burning. Tubbo dove back under the water, he would rather not have to deal with that today. Yesterday was stressful enough.

Tubbo stayed close to the seafloor. He liked the texture of the grass. He continued to swim to the south. Eventually, he came to the edge of the grassy plateau. In front of him sprawled a large, empty swath of land. Spires of rock towered above him. Tubbo swam out to one. The rock was no different from the spires in the plateau. Tubbo saw a shoal of fish swim past him. He reached out and grabbed one. He held it tight while he scanned it. 

“ _ A fast prey fish encountered in shallow waters and rich in protein. _

“ _ Developed, Side-facing Eyes: _

_ Capable of discerning colors not just in shallows waters but in a variety of lighting conditions. It is also able to close its eyelids, thus preventing light from reflecting off the lenses and rendering the peeper almost invisible to night time predators. _

“ _ Powerful Fins: _

_ This species has evolved powerful fins which enable rapid acceleration in still water, and the ability to leap meters into the air to avoid pursuers. _

“ _ Beak: _

_ Likely used to break down corals and tough vegetation. An unusually large nasal cavity serves no obvious purpose, and appears to be specially evolved to detect a single, specific enzyme. Nothing encountered on the planet so far produces a matching odor. _

“ _ Expulsion Tubes: _

_ The tubes attached to the peeper's torso are connected directly to its stomach and gills, and appear to be designed to expel its contents on demand. Purpose unclear. _

“ _ While the peeper is well adapted to survive in shallow waters, a number of its features serve no discernible purpose. It would appear to be just as well suited to survive in deeper waters, and is somewhat more intelligent than the usual small herbivore. _

“ _ Assessment: Edible (high calorie count), further research required. _ ”

Tubbo nodded and released it. Then, he looked westward, and was met with the sight of large creatures in the distance. They looked like rays, with part of the reef growing on their backs. Tubbo swam toward them, then, he heard the voice of the PDA in his ear.

“ _ Warning: detecting multiple leviathan class herbivors. _ ”

Although this scared Tubbo, he noticed that the PDA said herbivors, not predators. So, Tubbo swam to them. He pulled out his scanner and pointed it at the creature.

“ _ This vast lifeform is in excess of 30m long and has been designated leviathan class. Fortunately it feeds exclusively on plankton-like lifeforms in the water. _

“ _ Assessment: Harbors plants, small fish and metal-rich barnacles _ ”

Well, it was good that it wouldn’t eat Tubbo. Tubbo swam onto its back and sat down. He ran his hand over the back of the creature. It was soft, like moss. The boy felt some of the barnacles. Their ridges were fun to touch absentmindedly. Tubbo noticed that the reefback was even bigger than the reaper. It was kinda cool.

Tubbo swam off the reefback. He would like to get back home before dark. After all, if the reaper uses echolocation, it can and will hunt at night.

When he got back to his base, Tubbo noticed he still had a little daylight. He pulled the scraps that Beckerson gave him into his base. After Tubbo removed his wetsuit, he pulled up his PDA. He would need more room in his base. He opened the habitat menu.

“Ok, I need food and water. I have a good food source, but I need water. So, a water filtration machine. I have all the titanium, but I need copper wire and aerogel. Copper wire I get from copper. Copper is found in limestone outcroppings, which can be found in the grassy plateau, nice! Aerogel is made with gel sacs and-rubies! Where am I going to get rubies?” Tubbo groaned. This was not going to be easy. “Rubies are generally found near thermal vents.”

Tubbo knew that thermal vents usually existed on the seafloor, deep under the water. He would have to figure out how to go deep down. He figured a vehicle would be the best option. Seamoth, cyclops, and the prawn suit. Those were his options. Tubbo figured the seamoth was best, after all, it was a one-person vehicle.

To make the seamoth, Tubbo would need to make the mobile vehicle bay. The mobile vehicle bay required titanium ingots, a power cell, glass, lubricant, and lead. The lead would be the most difficult thing. Tubbo hoped he wouldn’t get lead poisoning.

Tubbo stood and walked to his fabricator. He figured he would start with the titanium ingots. Those seemed like the easiest thing to do. He loaded all of the metal plates into the fabricator, and got 12 titanium back. Then, he converted those into one ingot. Well, it wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. Tubbo yawned. He set the ingot on the ground and walked to his bed. He laid in it, and fell asleep quickly.

Surprisingly, Tubbo did not have any nightmares about the Reaper. He did dream of the reefbacks, though. Tubbo liked the reefbacks. Not as much as bees or Beckerson, but he still liked them.

Tubbo woke up and cracked his back. He figured that he would get some copper, acid mushrooms, and quartz today. Yet, first he would have to eat. Tubbo pulled out one of his cooked boomerangs and ate it. It was tough and stringy, but it was better than a brick of dried food. 

Tubbo donned his wetsuit and swam out. Beckerson was waiting for him. Tubbo rubbed his head. He could almost feel the remorse of the stalker. 

_ It’s ok, buddy _ .

He knew the stalker couldn’t hear him, but he didn’t care.

Tubbo started to swim to the ground, looking for limestone out croppings. He eventually found some, but they gave him 2 titanium and one copper. Tubbo swam back to his base and deposited them in front of the hatch. He continued to search for copper, yet, he also brought back the mushrooms and quartz he needed. Tubbo brought his supplies into the pod and started on crafting. Tubbo made the two batteries and two pieces of glass. He set the glass aside, not wanting to break it. Then, Tubbo sat on his bed. He felt tears drip down his face, yet he did not know why he was crying.

He was tired. Exhausted. Whenever Tubbo would read stories of people stranded on deserted islands and alien planets, they always had someone with them. Yet, Tubbo was alone, and that was exhausting. There were no arms to hold him, no hands to pat his head, no mouth to speak reassuring words. It was just him. Tubbo leaned against the wall and pulled his knees to his chest. He had felt loneliness before, yet he had never felt  _ alone _ .


	11. Chapter 11

It became a daily ritual of sorts. Wake up. Eat breakfast, usually a dried peeper. Watch the radio. Eat lunch. Watch the radio. Eat dinner. Watch radio. Sleep. Repeat.

Tommy resented his routine. The radio almost never had messages. Until today, that is.

“ _ This is Sunbeam. Y'know, Aurora, we're from a little trans-gov on the far side of Andromeda, and we have a saying there. _

“ _ There's no bad without the good, no good without the bad. _

“ _ Sounds like you tasted a bunch of the former, but that only means you're overdue a whole lot of the latter. _

“ _ Might just be we're it. _

“ _ We're scanning for somewhere to park as we speak, we'll be in touch when we find it. Sunbeam out. _ ”

Tommy smiled. They would soon be saved. When Wilbur, Techno, and Phil returned, he told them of the new message. The three of them cheered, yet Tommy could tell that Wilbur and Phil’s cheers weren’t fully genuine. Tommy figured they were just nervous. 

“So, in other good news,” Techno started. “I found an island.”

“What?” Tommy asked.

“I did. I checked it out too. I didn’t find anything, other than these.” Techno held out an alien tablet that glowed a light purple and a PDA. Tommy took both. The tablet was made of stone, and it seemed to be heavier than it actually is. 

The PDA on the other hand, was very interesting. Tommy opened it up, and looked for the owner. He was not prepared for who owned it.

“Captain Jordan Maron.”

_ Uncle Jordan. _

Tommy was speechless. Unable to move, he just stared at the name.

“You good there?” Wilbur asked. When Tommy didn’t respond, he sat next to him and pulled the PDA out of his hands. 

“That was my uncle.” Tommy said. “He was one of the captains on the  _ Degasi _ .”

Wilbur just nodded. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around Tommy. Tears dripped down into Tommy’s lap. He just didn’t know how to process this. His uncle was dead. He did not know how he would tell his moms. 

“Hey, it’s okay to cry,” Phil said, rubbing Tommy’s shoulder. That seemed to open the flood gates. Tears dripped freely down Tommy’s face. All of the grief he felt, for Tubbo, for Uncle Jordan, for the other lives on the  _ Aurora  _ and the  _ Degasi _ , was emulated in his tears. All of his rage, all of his remorse, all of his stress, all of it became salty tears. This was Tommy’s breaking point. He could no longer hold it in. He choked out ugly sobs. 

He felt himself be wrapped up in strong arms. Phil had pulled him to his feet and was embracing him. The adult was the only thing holding Tommy up. Eventually, he felt Techno and Wilbur’s arms around him too. Tommy just cried. He held tightly onto Phil. Although the man was shorter than Tommy, Tommy looked like a small child. 

“Its not fair. Its not  _ fucking _ fair.” He said. “Stupid fucking Alterra sending me on this stupid fucking mission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been like 3 months but here y'all go


End file.
